WG 19 WOL-MAU ROL, ROUPO DLL, UU 49 DULUBLY LULL OU, 
so that it may be seen some distance away. 
It is nothing unusual for an ordinary shot to kill from 
fifty to a hundred ducks in a day by flight shooting 
alone in some parts of the West and Southwest, and, if 
heavy duck guns are used, perhaps double that number. 
Instances are also known where, owing to the wildness 
of the birds, one was not bagged in a day, although the 
sky was dotted with large “trading” teams, as they 
took care to keep away from the land. That some ducks 
have strong vital power is evident from the fact that a 
party of five men failed to kill one which they fired at 
simultaneously, in a lake in Minnesota. They brought 
the bird down, but it had scarcely touched the water ere 
it began to swim away. This raised such a howl of indigna- 
tion among the wild-fowlers that one of them jumped into 
a skiff, and swore he would have that bird, as he did not 
want it reported that five of them could not kill a consump- 
tive duck. He paddled after the fugitive, and on approach- 
ing it lifted the paddle to hit it, but the duck was under 
before the weapon touched the water. This elicited roars 
of laughter and a volume of suggestions. One told him 
to jump out of the boat and kick the durned duck to 
death; another wanted him to dive after it; a third sug- 
gested that he throw salt on its tail, and a fourth, to 
put pepper in its nose and let it sneeze its head off. Be- 
fore either of these suggestions could be carried out, the 
duck, skiff, and fowler disappeared like lead. This sud- 
den disappearance caused all to indulge in speculation as 
to the cause of it, but while each had his own idea, the 
general impression (for this occasion only) was, that he 
had committed suicide through chagrin at being outwit- 
ted by a consumptive duck, or that the duck had turned 
on him and dragged himself and the skiff under. The 
party then started to search for him, but being unable to 
